Election Fallout 5 – North Korea (and China)

Though Donald Trump spoke of China during his campaign almost exclusively as the biggest threat to American prosperity, he appears to come away from his first sit-down with President Obama with an appreciation that a nuclear-armed North Korea is a “big problem for the country.” If so, he may be only baby steps away from an appreciation that China – as North Korea’s only significant trading partner and diplomatic ally – holds the keys to any conceivable solution to that problem. So at some point, he will have to ask: Is China likely to help with North Korea if its products are subject to 35 percent tariffs?